Railway track



L. X. H. MAYNIER RAILWAY TRACK Dec. 24, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 29. 1966 hvuwnw Dec. 24, 1968 Filed Nov. 29, 1966 L. x. H. MAYNIER 3,417,921

RAILWAY TRACK 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ayMr- Dec. 24, 1968 L. x. H. MAYNIER 3,417,921

' RAILWAY TRACK Filed Nov. 29. 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 J E 1:! H byuwrat 100/: X. H. MAY/wig Dec 4, 1968 L. x. H. MAYNIER 3,417,921

RAILWAY TRACK v Filed Nov. 29. -1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Awe-fink 100/: X A Mow/me United States Patent 3,417,921 RAILWAY TRACK Louis X. H. Maynier, 7 Scott St., Waverley, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa Filed Nov. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 597,640 Claims priority, application Republic of South Africa, Dec. 6, 1965, 65/6,538 15 Claims. (Cl. 238264) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rail is held in floating condition above a support, usually the sleeper, by means of wedge formations, engaged between head and foot of the rail, that are upwardly inclined. Adjusting plates are located between the wedges and the supports and are slidable relatively to the wedges to permit the rail limited upward movement. Resilient shock-absorbing pads are provided between the wedges and the supports. The assembly, including the rail, is located within a rescess in the support.

This invention relates to rail systems, and particularly to means of supporting track rails for wheeled conveyances. It has particular application in railway practice.

Expanding economies, particularly in highly industrialised countries, are imposing increasingly greater strain on railway systems. Traffic tends to increase continuously and this has provoked improvements in operating techniques, which in turn have enabled the weight and speed of trains to be increased, and the intervals separating them to be reduced. However, the basic structure which literally carries the entire railway system-the track itself-remains much what it has been since the inception of railways and it is becoming increasingly apparent that drastic changes are necessary for the track to match up to modern operating conditions and equipment.

The cost of providing and laying the track itself is a relatively minor consideration in a railway system, and is a small fraction of the total cost of earthworks, tunnels, signalling equipment, railway yards, electrification, and

, so on. It can therefore be postulated that increased capital cost for laying the track is not a serious factor. What is far more serious is that shut-down of track for maintenance, repair or replacement results in very costly interruption of the railway service.

An object of the invention is to provide novel means for supporting a rail, this means providing a measure of resilience between the rail and the structure on which it is supported.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for supporting a rail which reduces the shock, vibration and wear in the rail and its supporting structure due to dynamic loading, thus reducing the maintenance and repair required.

Another object of the invention is to provide means of supporting a rail which maintains the rail in uniformly stressed or destressed condition when it is not under load.

3,417,921 Patented Dec. 24, 1968 Yet another object of the invention is to provide a sleeper structure suitable for use in a railway track embodying the above-mentioned rail supporting means and for transmitting loads directly and uniformly over the largest practicable area of foundation.

Other objects of the invention will emerge from the following description.

According to the invention, means for supporting a rail comprises a channelled body; a wedge member on each side of the rail, abutting the rail and supporting it from below the upper flange, each wedge member having a smooth face parallel in direction to the rail and sloping towards the foot of the rail; and seat assemblies bedded in the channel walls opposite each other, each assembly comprising a seat member having a smooth face complemental to and abutting the smooth face of the wedge member, and a resilient element biassing the seat member towards the wedge member.

In a preferred form, the channelled body is a sleeper, the channel being a groove in its upper surface. Alternatively, the channelled body might be a yoke or clevis secured mouth upwards on a supporting structure such as a sleeper.

The smooth faces of the seat member and wedge memher are preferably flat, and permit relative movement both up and down and sideways. The smooth face is preferably provided on a surface element detachable from the body of the seat member, and which constitutes an adjusting plate.

The resilient element is preferably a pad of rubber or similar resilient material, located in a plane parallel to the rail and inclined at about 30 to the vertical. Vertical deflection of the rail causes compression of the pad through relative movement of the wedge and seat members and deflection of the sleeper.

Holding down means is preferably provided to prevent lifting of the rail out of the channel. The rail itself is preferably of I section, with a wedge member located on each side of it between, and abutting, the lower surface of the upper portion, and the upper surface of the lower portion of the rail.

The invention is further discussed below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a simplified view in section through a track according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view in plan of the track of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a detailed view in section through a sleeper, rail and rail supporting means along, say, the line 33 in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view based on FIGURE 3 of the components of the supporting means to one side of the rail;

FIGURE 5 is a view, partly in section, of holding dowr means for the rail, say, on the line 55 in FIGURE 2 FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a tie bar gate user in a tie assembly connecting adjacent sleepers in the track FIGURE 7 is a view in plan of the corners of foul adjacent sleepers connected by a tie assembly;

FIGURE 8 shows a section along the line 88 in FIG URE 7; and

3 FIGURE 9 is a side elevation of a spring clip used in the tie assembly of FIGURES 7 and 8.

FIGURE 10 is a plan view of a rail joint and FIGURE 11 is a vertical section on the line 1111 of FIGURE 10.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, a track embodying the features of the invention comprises two coniinuous parallel lines of sleepers 10, each line carrying in a channel 12 in the faces of the sleepers 10 a rail 14 supported by support assemblies 16 located towards each end of each sleeper, and held down by holding down means 17 near each end of each sleeper. The sleepers are connected endto-end and side-to-side by means of tie assemblies 18. Each sleeper 10 is, in section, basically of flattened octagon shape, the long axis of the octagon being horizontal. The sleepers are perforated at intervals by holes 20, and are mounted in the track foundation 22 in furrows of a shape complemental to that of the lower surface of the sleepers. Under each sleeper 10 and running along its length is a French drain 24, communicating at intervals with lead-off pipes 26 to ensure good track drainage. Pipes 27 lead oil at intervals from the cavities 12 to side drains 29.

Details of the construction of a rail 14 and support assembly 16 are illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4. The sleeper 10 is made of reinforced concrete in a known manner. (The reinforcing is not illustrated.) The channel 12 narrows towards its floor 11 and is substantially deeper than the rail 14. The components of the support assembly 16 nearest the sleeper are bedded in recesses 28 that are trapezoidal in outline (see FIGURE 4). The rail 14 is of I section and is symmetrical about both its vertical and horizontal axes.

The support assembly 16 comprises, on each side of the rail 14, a resilient pad 30 contained between skin members 32; a seat member 34; an adjusting plate 36; and a wedge bar 38.

An exploded view of the components on one side of the rail is shown in FIGURE 4. The skin members 32 are flat trapezoidal sheets which correspond to the outline of the recess 28. They are made of hardboard or metal or some other suitable material, their function being to prevent the pad 30 from adhering to the sleeper 10 and the seat member 34. They are provided with holes 40 in their centre. The pad 30 is likewise of trapezoidal outline and has projecting keys 42 on its front and rear surfaces registering with the holes 40 in the skin members 32. The pad 30 is made of a resilient material such as a plastic or rubber, synthetic or natural. In practice it may be lightly glued to the skin members 32.

The contour of the seat member 34 also conforms to the shape of the recess 28. Its front surface bears a cavity 44 in a flat central zone 46. The plate 36 has a key 48 (see FIGURE 3) on its rear surface complemental to, and in engagement with, the cavity 44. The front surface 50 of the plate 36 is fiat and smooth or it may be pitted. The rear face 52 of the wedge bar 38 is also flat and smooth, to permit relative sliding movement, both up and down and sideways, between it and the front face 50 of the adjusting plate 36. Its upper and lower surfaces, 54 and 56, are shaped for engagement between the head and foot of the rail 14. The front face 58 is formed to clear the rail in the assembly (see FIGURE 3).

FIGURE 5 illustrates the holding down means designated 17 in FIGURE 2 and located near each end of each sleeper. It comprises, on each side of the rail 14, a spring clip 60 of the type available under the trade name Pandrol. An end of each spring 60 extends into an ear 62 of a stirrup member 64 which extends below the rail across the channel 12. Below the stirrup 64, the floor of the channel 12 is enlarged to provide a recess 66 which extends transversally into the sides of the sleeper and longitudinally to the end of the sleeper. Embedded in the sleeper on each side, and partially protruding into the wings of the recess 66, is a reinforcing member 68 shaped from a metal rod to straddle the end of the stirrup 64 and thus hold it against displacement along the length of the sleeper. A portion 70 of the reinforcing member 68 also lies embedded in the upper surface of the wing of the recess 66 to reinforce the recess against lifting force transmitted by the rail through the clip 60 and stirrup 64. The springs 60 bear down resiliently on the foot of the rail 14 and draw the stirrup 64 upwards to abut the ceiling of the recess 66 and the portion 70 of the reinforcing piece embedded therein. The effect of the construction is to prevent lifting of the rail 14 out of the channel 12 but not to resist downward movement of the rail, for which there is ample play.

FIGURE 6 illustrates a tie bar gate 72 used in the tie assemblies 18 indicated schematically in FIGURE 2, and illustrated in detail in FIGURES 7 and 8. The tie bar gate 72 comprises transverse bars 74, longitudinal bars 76 and tapered prongs 78, the prongs being formed as extensions of the transverse bars 74.

In FIGURE 7, the numerals 10a, 10b, 10c and 10d indicate four adjacent sleepers, of which only the corners are shown. The sleepers 10a and 10b support one rail of a pair of rails in the track, and are spaced apart from each other and from the sleeper 10c and 10d, which support the second rail.

In the corner of each sleeper, and extending vertically through it, is a hole lined by metal liners 82. Identical upper and lower tie bar gates 72 are located across the corners of the sleeper with the prongs 78 extending into the holes 80. Hooks 84 grip and draw together the upper and lower longitudinal bars 76 on each side of the gate acting through locking springs 86.

The engagement of the prongs 78 in the holes 80 is clearly seen in FIGURE 8. The tapers on the prongs of the upper and lower tie bar gates are complemental, and the use of the liners 82, and a shim 88 located between the prongs in each hole, serves to wedge the assembly securely together. Clamping support is provided by the hooks 84 acting on the bars 76.

A locking spring 86 is illustrated in FIGURE 9. Flanges 90 enable it to straddle the pars 76 without risk of sideways slip. Ears 92 are provided to maintain it centrally under the hook 84. It obtains its resiliency from its arched curvature.

In FIGURES 10 and 11 the rail joint is made by two pairs of wedge bars 94, one to each side of the rail joint, the pairs being connected across the joint by a fishplate 90.

In laying the track the foundations are shaped and consolidated to the grades required and to the cross section depicted 22. Lower tie bar gates 72 are laid in position and sleepers 10 lowered to engage with them. Upper tie bar gates are secured as shown in the drawing and locked by spring clips 86 which are squeezed down whilst being driven into position from their larger ends. After the track has permanently bedded down under traflic the spring clips 86, hooks 84, and top tie bar gate 72 may be removed and reused elsewhere, and the tapered voids in the sleepers filled as by wooden wedges lightly glued in place. In bedding sleepers down into their final positions, they are supported more firmly toward their outer edges so as to permit them some vertical deflection immediately beneath the rail. The seating assemblies consisting of parts numbered 30, 32, 34 and adjusting plates 36 are laid in position, and the rail 14 is supported a few inches above its final position. Wedges 38 are held in place against the rail sides immediately above the plates 36 and the rail is then lowered the remaining amount to enable the wedges 38 to seat on the plates 36.

From between the sleepers stirrups 64 are slid into their housing, and pushed hard upwards whilst the spring clips 60 are driven into the position shown from the sides. The whole rail/sleeper assembly is thereby held together. By selecting the number of clips in a given length of rail and by adjusting the pull per clip the rail is held in position vertically whilst left relatively free to move longitudinally and so to distribute temperature stresses evenly over its length. This movement takes place when the rail is unloaded. In its loaded condition longitudinal movement of the rail becomes virtually impossible.

Supported thus, the rail 14 is maintained in a floating condition in which upward limited movement is permitted it against the resistance of gravity and springs 60, while limited downward movement is permitted by the support assemblies 16.

Where the rail moves longitudinally, the wedge bars 38 may be restrained from moving too far away from the adjusting plate 36 by keying or locking devices.

Minor height adjustments may be made by lifting or lowering the rail by changing the thickness of the adjusting plates 36. The gauge adjustment is effected by changing the thickness of the adjusting plates 36 on either side of the rail relatively to each other, with the condition that the total thickness of the plates as a whole for each wedge assembly must remain the same for the height of the rail to be unaltered. Height is adjusted by increasing or decreasing the total thickness of the adjusting plates 36 at each point of support.

During the bedding down period, visible settlement of the rail, i.e., slack or sag, may be corrected by jacking up the track, machine tamping along the perimeter of the sleepers, and working sand into voids with probes through the holes 20 provided in the body of the sleepers (see FIGURE 2). Sand injectors operated by compressed air can also grout sand into voids through the same holes.

Invisible, i.e., spring or blind slacks, can be detected by voidmeters and are corrected in the same way as visible slacks except that jacking up may not be necessary.

If the holes 20 in the sleepers are kept charged with enough dry sand from the time that the rail height is corrected, neither visible nor spring slacks should develop. Both start as spring slacks and any excessive movement of a sleeper under traflic due to a void beneath it, will automatically move sand into the void. Spreading of the sand in the void is assisted by the vertical movement and vibration of the sleeper and by the slope of the foundation.

Rail joints are preferably cited centrally over single sleeper blocks. Rails are joined and supported at their ends by a combined fishplate wedge bar unit in which the wedge bars immediately to either side of the joint are connected by a short length of two-holed flat fishplate section to form a single unit.

The track is drained by leading water that collects in channels, french drains, or between sleepers, away to side drains by means of transverse pipes laid at suitable intervals.

Theoretical analyses of track behaviour for the most part postulate a rail carried on continuous longitudinal support, which must be uniform and flexible. This design permits these features to be built into the track to a far greater degree and under much closer control than is pos sible in conventional track.

The track described has the following advantages:

The rail is gripped by the sleeper and its components, in a greatly improved manner.

Internal stresses in the rail due to load, are reduced, and by turning it upside down, its life can be doubled.

Transport of replacement rails is halved.

Internal stresses due to temperature changes in the rail are easily and uniformly dispersed over its length.

The vice-like grip by which the rail is held top and bottom, and the length over which this grip acts, gives to the lengths of rail between supports fixed end condition, particularly against lateral thrust. Stress in the rail and the tendency to form corrugations on sharp steep curves are thereby greatly reduced.

The rail/ sleeper assembly is easily and quickly put together and dismantled and rail elevation and gauge more easily and more accurately adjusted.

The great lateral stability of the track permits long welded rails to be used on curves having much sharper radii than is possible with conventional track.

Shock and vibration are absorbed in the assembly and also by the construction and inertia of the heavy sleeper blocks so that dynamic augmentation of the load on the foundations is reduced to a minimum.

Restoring of lost sleeper elevation by sand filling of voids under sleepers is largely automatic.

Instead of transmitting and spreading vertical load from sleeper to foundation through impermanent columns of ballast as in conventional track, this load is taken up immediately by permanent concrete blocks and spread directly and uniformly over the largest area of foundation that it is practicable to load.

Impermanent ballast material is entirely eliminated from this track, as also the handling, transport and removal thereof.

Lateral displacement of the track is resisted over surfaces about ten times greater than in conventional track and by more stable, compacted material.

The cross-section of the formation is comparatively smooth and permits road vehicles to cross the track anywhere. For workmen tending to track, trains or nearby installations, this provides a much safer and better plat form on which to work.

When derailed, Wheels have a much smoother surface over which to run. Danger and damage are thereby reduced.

I claim:

1. Means for supporting a rail, comprising a support providing an upwardly directed channel, a wedge member on each side of the rail, abutting the rail and supporting it from below the upper flange; each wedge member having a smooth face parallel to the rail and sloping towards the foot of the rail; and seat assemblies bedded in the channel walls opposite each other, each assembly comprising a seat member having a flat face complemental to and abutting the smooth face of the wedge member, and a resilient element biassing the seat member towards the wedge member.

2. The supporting means of claim 1 in which the support is a sleeper, the channel being located in its top surface.

3. The supporting means of claim 2 in which the seat assemblies are detachably engaged in recesses in the channel walls.

4. The supporting means of claim 1 in which the seat member is a composite member in which the smooth face is provided on an adjusting plate detachable from the body of the seat member.

5. The supporting means of claim 1 in which the resilient element lies in a plane parallel to the direction of the rail and inclined at about 30 to the vertical.

6. The supporting means of claim 5 in which the resilient element is a pad of resilient material.

7. The supporting means of claim 6 in which the resilient pad is contained between two skin members, one abutting the support and the other abutting the seat member.

8. The supporting means of claim 1 in which the rail is of I section and is symmetrical about both its horizontal and vertical axes.

9. The supporting means of claim 8 in which each wedge member is located between, and abuts, the lower surface of the upper part of the upper surface of the lower part of the rail.

10. The supporting means of claim 1 including means to prevent the rail from lifting above a predetermined level.

11. The supporting means of claim 10 in which the means to prevent lifting of the rail comprises a first member secured to the support and a second member clipping the rail downwardly against upward movement and engaging the first member.

12. 'Ihe supporting means of claim 11 in which one 01 the first or second members is resilient.

13. The supporting means of claim 1 in which the support is a sleeper, the channel being located in its top surface and in which the connection between adjacent sleepers comprises a tie bar gate composed of integrally connected longitudinal and transverse bars, and upright members engaged in cavities in the bodies of the sleepers.

14. The supporting means of claim 13 including an upper and a lower tie bar gate, and clamping means connected between them.

15. The supporting means of claim 1 in which there is provided at rail joints a combined fishplate wedge bar unit comprising wedge bars immediately to either side of joint, connected to each other.

8 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,126,527 1/1915 Liebmann. 5 1,186,448 6/1916 Smalling.

1,206,055 11/1916 Updegrafi.

1,259,755 3/1918 Lockard.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. 1O RICHARD A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 238- 281 

